The consulting firm KPMG has issued its report on the “fintech pulse”, and has reached interesting conclusions in its section dedicated to cryptocurrencies and blockchain.
The top priorities for the cryptocurrency industry this fall, according to KPMG’s Pulse of Fintech report, are:
- Some companies that focus on cryptocurrencies are putting themselves to the test by trying to recapitalize at lower valuations, which is hard for any company.
- Crypto companies that are well managed in terms of their risk management policy, long-term vision, and cost and risk management will succeed, while others will fail.
- Solutions for keeping track of cryptocurrency transactions and making sure they are legal are getting more attention.
- Stablecoins are becoming more popular as a way for businesses to use cryptocurrency’s operational benefits. Some of these benefits are lower transaction fees, faster confirmation times, more openness, more money, and ease of use for users.
- New ways for cryptocurrency companies and traditional companies to work together to solve ESG (environmental, social, and governance) problems.
The current state of financing in the cryptocurrency industry
Even though the record from 2021 has been broken, crypto and blockchain investment is still more than any other year.
In 2021, a record $28.2 billion was spent on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology around the world. In the first half of 2022, that number dropped to $14 billion.
Even though the cryptocurrency market dropped sharply after the middle of the first quarter of 2022 due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis, rising inflation, and problems with Terra‘s cryptocurrency ecosystem, investments were still much higher than in any year before 2021.
In the cryptocurrency and blockchain space, some of the most important things that happened in the first half of 2022 were:
Investor demographics are changing, heightening volatility
Before 2018, most of the money for the cryptocurrency industry came from small investors. Over time, more and more money has been invested by institutions and businesses.
People’s views on how dangerous cryptocurrency investments are have changed dramatically as a result.
When it came to investment risk, people used to think that cryptocurrency assets were not very similar to traditional assets. However, in the past few months, they have started to act in a very similar way.
The current macroeconomic trend is likely to test how cryptocurrencies, and Bitcoin, in particular, relate to other assets.
Focus on monetary independence
El Salvador will make Bitcoin legal money in 2021. This has sparked a lot of interest in using cryptocurrencies to strengthen crypto sovereignty and replace fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar.
The Central African Republic was the second country, after Japan, to say that Bitcoin is a legal form of money. This happened in the first half of 2022.
It could be a model for other developing countries in the second half of the 21st century and beyond.
Governments are still regulating cryptocurrencies
China has made it illegal to trade cryptocurrencies, and India is thinking about doing the same. However, authorities in other countries have kept their focus on protecting consumers while encouraging the growth of healthy and vibrant cryptocurrency markets.
At the end of the first half of 2022, the European Union passed new rules for the business of cryptocurrencies. These rules are called Markets for Cryptoassets (MiCA).
Cover image: Crypto industry – Universal Public Domain.
© 2024 Cryptopress. For informational purposes only, not offered as advice of any kind.
